When did Balbir Singh Sr and Inder Mohan Mahajan clash over selection of the Indian team?...by Prabhjot Singh
Chandigarh: Indian hockey has been through various crises. In 1982 when India decided to play host to the Asian Games, things were not moving well in the Indian hockey camp.
One of the deep defenders, Rajinder Singh Senior, who had been a consistent scorer from penalty corners, was nursing a knee injury. Balbir Singh Senior, the Chief Coach of the team, was keen to try Olympian Surinder Singh Sodhi in place of Rajinder Singh Senior as a deep defender.
While the Indian Hockey Federation led by Inder Mohan Mahajan was keen that Rajinder Singh Senior who successfully underwent knee surgery at the Nehru Hospital of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and research in Chandigarh should be included in the team, the team management was reluctant to take the risk.
A world class orthopaedic surgeon from the United Kingdom, Professor Bentley, had performed the surgery as a special case and declared Rajinder Singh fully fit for the Asian Games.
Rajinder Singh Senior was back in the camp months before the start of the Games. He was asked to prove his fitness.
A couple of days before the final selection trials, the rift between the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President, Inder Mohan Mahajan, and chief coach, Balbir Singh Senior, came into the open as they had a heated exchange after the morning training session at National Stadium.
On the intervention of Mr. Buta Singh, who as the Chairman of the Organising Committee, the dispute was amicably settled, and Rajinder Singh Senior was included in the team while Surinder Singh Sodhi, who was otherwise a great striker, failed to find a place in the team. Zaffar Iqbal was named the captain.
Mr. J S Anand, who was then Vice-President of the Indian Hockey Federation, and Tournament Director of the Asian Games Hockey event, sided with Balbir Singh Senior. This brought him in conflict with Mr. Inder Mohan Mahajan.
That controversy raged throughout the Games. Unfortunately, India suffered a humiliating 1-7 defeat at the hands of its traditional rival and neighbour Pakistan in the final.
After the Asian Games Indian team travelled to Australia to play in the Esanda Hockey Tournament where India avenged its Delhi defeat by recording a convincing win against Pakistan.
That in no way helped in patching up the differences between Inder Mohan Mahajan on one side and JS Anand-Balbir Singh Senior combine on the other.
The National Hockey Championship that followed the Games at Meerut saw a full-fledged Punjab team wresting the title for third consecutive time. The team comprising Ajit Pal Singh, Surjit Singh, Vinod Kumar, Gurmail Rai, Surinder Singh Sodhi, Jagdeep Gill, Vivek Saini, Rajinder Singh Jr, Davinder Singh Garcha, Bhajan Singh Vespa, Swinder Singh Billa, Amardeep Singh, and Gurdeep Singh Pannu beat Bombay in the final.
After the final, the Punjab team had a victory procession carrying JS Anand on their shoulders shouting slogans against Inder Mohan Mahajan and the IHF.
The IHF took it seriously and ordered a disciplinary enquiry against JS Anand for provoking his players. Ghufran-e-Azam, who was also a Vice-President of the IHF, was named the Chairman of the Enquiry Committee. A three-page show cause notice was served on JS Anand through registered mail.
Unfortunately, before JS Anand could reply to the notice, he died under mysterious circumstances. His body was found in Sukhna Lake. Initially, the police described it as a case of suicide but later the CBI, after taking over the investigations from the Chandigarh police, charged some members of the family for his death.
After prolonged litigation, the family members were acquitted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court as they had challenged their convictions.
January 11, 2024
-
-
Prabhjot Singh, Senior Journalist and Sports expert
prabhjot.apple@gmail.com
Disclaimer : The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the writer/author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of Babushahi.com or Tirchhi Nazar Media. Babushahi.com or Tirchhi Nazar Media does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.